Service scripting framework

ABSTRACT

Receiving and executing at a server a script provided by a client, e.g., in a service request sent by a web services or other service client and/or consumer, is disclosed. In various embodiments, the script is configured to cause the server to do one or more of the following: pre-process at least a portion of the services request; post-process a response data associated with the services request; and replace an operation comprising the service at least in part with a replacement operation defined or identified at least in part in the script.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Service-oriented architectures, such as web services and similarframeworks, have been employed to provide access, e.g., via a network,to a service. One example of such a service-oriented architecture is theEMC Documentum™ family of products, which provide contentmanagement-related services. A service-oriented architecture typicallyis used to define and provide access to a collection of services. Aservice is an endpoint capable of being connected to, e.g., via anetwork, and typically comprises a function that is well defined, selfcontained, and does not depend on the context or state of otherservices; although a service may invoke one or more other services inorder to generate a response to a service request. A service typicallyis invoked via a service interface, e.g., a SOAP or other web servicesrequest. In the web services or similar paradigms, a definition of aservice may be made available, through public posting or otherwise, todescribe a service and the syntax required to be used to invoke theservices and/or its component operations. To facilitatemachine-to-machine discovery and use, a service typically is defined inadvance, relatively statically, and typically comprises a relativelysmall number of atomic operations. For more complex interactions, aservice consumer (e.g., a content management or other client, in thecontent management context) typically must manage the sequencing ofoperations and send successive service requests as required to achievethe desired result. For example, the outcome of a first operation, e.g.,to create a new object in a content repository, may be required before asecond operation can be performed. For example, a new object might haveto be created, and a repository identifier assigned, before the newobject can be linked to a folder or other logical structure and/orrelated to another object. This typical approach may require a highlevel of intelligence at the client and may consume excessive processingresources at the client, as well as communication bandwidth between theclient and server as each service request and response is sent in aseparate roundtrip communication. Server scripts have been used toenable servers to generate responses and perform other processingdynamically, e.g., in response to a request received from a client, buttypically such scripts reside at the server and are invoked at theserver by server logic.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the followingdetailed description and the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of aservice-oriented architecture for content management services.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of aservice-oriented architecture for content management services.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a serviceprovider host.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a serviceconsumer host.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a data packageused to send a service request in some embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forresponding to a service request.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forpreparing and sending a service request.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forpreparing and sending a service response.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process for usinga client side script to apply a policy implicated by a service request.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention can be implemented in numerous ways, including as aprocess, an apparatus, a system, a composition of matter, a computerreadable medium such as a computer readable storage medium or a computernetwork wherein program instructions are sent over optical orcommunication links. In this specification, these implementations, orany other form that the invention may take, may be referred to astechniques. A component such as a processor or a memory described asbeing configured to perform a task includes both a general componentthat is temporarily configured to perform the task at a given time or aspecific component that is manufactured to perform the task. In general,the order of the steps of disclosed processes may be altered within thescope of the invention.

A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the invention isprovided below along with accompanying figures that illustrate theprinciples of the invention. The invention is described in connectionwith such embodiments, but the invention is not limited to anyembodiment. The scope of the invention is limited only by the claims andthe invention encompasses numerous alternatives, modifications andequivalents. Numerous specific details are set forth in the followingdescription in order to provide a thorough understanding of theinvention. These details are provided for the purpose of example and theinvention may be practiced according to the claims without some or allof these specific details. For the purpose of clarity, technicalmaterial that is known in the technical fields related to the inventionhas not been described in detail so that the invention is notunnecessarily obscured.

Using a script to facilitate enhanced interactions with a service isdisclosed. In some embodiments, a service-oriented architecture isextended to enable at least certain scripts to be interpreted andexecuted. Examples of such a script include one configured to interactwith a service, at the service host, to perform, for example and withoutlimitation, a sequence of atomic operations prior to returning a resultto a service consumer; pre- and/or post-processing of requests and/orresults; and replacement of a defined service operation with areplacement operation defined in the script.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of aservice-oriented architecture for content management services. In theexample shown, a service consumer host 102 communicates via the Internet104 with a service provider host 106. Service provider host 106 in turncommunicates, e.g., via a public or private network or other connection,with a managed content repository 108. Examples of repository 108include an EMC Documentum™ repository. Examples of content managementservices include adding new content to repository 108; retrieving,updating, deleting, or otherwise accessing, using, and/or manipulatingcontent stored in repository 108; and providing traditional contentmanagement related services, such as managing retention, promotingcontent through stages of a lifecycle or other business process, etc.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of aservice-oriented architecture for content management services. In theexample shown, service consumer host 102 sends a service request (arrow“1”) to service provider host 106. Examples of a content managementrelated service request include a request to create (store) a new objectin the repository; a request to relate a first object with a secondobject; a request to associate an object with a folder or other logicalstructure; and requests to update, delete, or otherwise modify an objectstored in the repository. The service provider host 106 sends a command(arrow “2”) to repository 108 to cause the repository 108 to perform atask associated with responding to the service request (“1”). Therepository returns a result (arrow “3”) to service provider host 106,which uses the result to generate and send to service consumer host 102a service response (arrow “4”) to the service request (“1”). Forexample, if the service request “1” requested that a new object becreated and associated content stored in repository 108, the command “2”in some embodiments would include a command to store the content andcreate an associated metadata object to represent and manage the contentas stored in repository 108. The repository 108 would in someembodiments assign and include in result “3” an object identifier of thenewly-created content object, and service provider host 106 wouldinclude the identifier in the service response “4” sent to the serviceconsumer host 102.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a serviceprovider host. In the example shown, service provider host 106 includesa service runtime environment 302 in which one or more services and/orassociated processes run. In various embodiments, service runtimeenvironment 302 comprises a virtual machine and provides access toservices via a contained and optimized environment. Service consumersconnect to services running in service runtime environment 302, sendservice requests to such services, and receive responses generated andsent by such services. In the example shown, the services runtimeenvironment 302 includes a scripting extension 304 configured to support(e.g., interpret and execute) at least limited scripts. Examples of ascripting extension include extensions configured to interpret andexecute, within the confines of services runtime environment 302,scripts written in languages such as Python, JavaScript, Ruby, andVisual Basic.

A service consumer, such as a service client, sends a request thatincludes a script and in some embodiments an indication that a script isincluded. Rather than simply processing the request as a normal servicesrequest, in accordance with the service definition, if the requestincludes an indication that a script is included the request, or atleast the script portion thereof, is handed to the scripting extension304, which interprets and executes the script. In various embodiments,the script may cause the services runtime 302 and/or another componentcomprising and/or running on service provider host 106 to perform one ormore of the following: pre-processing the request and/or a payloadportion thereof, for example by unzipping the request using a prescribedtool and/or algorithm; causing the service to perform one or moreoperations of the service and then post-processing all or part of theresult prior to its being returned to the service consumer that sent therequest, for example by zipping and/or encrypting all or part of theresponse or by unzipping or decrypting a part of the response that wasreceived from another node, such as another service, in a compressed(i.e., zipped) or encrypted form that the client cannot or might not beable to use; and replacing a service operation with an operation definedat least in part in the script.

In some embodiments only certain scripts are allowed and scriptingextension 304 includes a validation module that verifies that a receivedscript is permitted prior to its being executed. In some embodimentssuch limiting and validation of scripts ensures a service request doesnot include a script that could pose a security threat to the service,the service runtime 302, and/or the service provider host 106. In someembodiments, the scripting extension 304 comprises an interface to apredefined processing module on the service provider host 106. Examplesof such a module include a business process module configured to managethe progression of one or more items of content through one or moresteps in a business process, for example, validation, promotion forreview and approval, retrieval of additional data from local or externalsources, generation of output, triggering related business processesand/or other services, retention management, etc. In some embodiments,scripting is limited to invoking the services available from one or moresuch predefined modules and/or components at least in part to preventsuch a script from compromising the service, the service runtime 302,and/or the service provider host 106.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a serviceconsumer host. In the example shown, service consumer host 102 includesa client runtime environment 402. An application and/or other processrunning in client runtime environment 402 in some embodiments usescomponents, modules, facilities, and/or interfaces associated withclient runtime environment 402 to generate and send service requests. Inthe example shown, the client runtime environment 402 includes ascripting extension 404. In some embodiments, scripting extension 404facilitates the inclusion of at least limited scripts in servicerequests sent to remote services, as described above. In someembodiments, as described more fully below, scripting extension 404allows at least certain scripts included in service responses to beinterpreted and executed at service consumer host 102. Examples of suchclient-side scripts include scripts configured to apply at the client,in some embodiments transparently to the client and/or applicationsand/or other processes running on the client, a policy. One example ofsuch a policy is a policy requiring that certain content can be providedto a client in response to a service request only if the client has aproperly configured secure location in which to store the content. Insome embodiments, upon receiving a service request for such content theserver sends to the client a script configured to verify the client isconfigured to store the content in a properly secured storage location,waits to receive an indication that the verification has been performedwith a satisfactory result, and only then sends a service response thatincludes and/or otherwise provides access to the requested content. Insome embodiments, from the perspective of the application and/or otherprocess that sent the service request, the receipt and execution of thescript is transparent and the above interaction is indistinguishablefrom the service request-service response model illustrated by FIG. 2.Other examples of a client-side script is one configured to cause theclient to perform post-processing, such as unzipping a service responseor portion thereof using an indicated or provided tool and/or algorithm,and scripts configured to enable a service request sent in encryptedform to be decrypted at the client, e.g., by providing or providing alink or pointer to a secret data, such as a key, required to decrypt theresponse, etc.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a data packageused to send a service request in some embodiments. In the exampleshown, a data package 500 includes a header portion 502 and a bodyportion 504. The header portion 502 includes a script_included flag,bit, or field 506 in which data indicating whether the data package 500includes a script is provided. If a script is included, in the exampleshown the script itself is included in a script portion 508 of bodyportion 504. A data payload, for example new or updated content data inthe content management context, is included in a data portion 510 of thebody portion 504. In some embodiments, the data portion 510 may includedin addition to and/or instead of content data one or more operations,commands, instructions, or other indications of processing and/orservices desired to be performed. In some embodiments, a script includedin a data package such as data package 500 may be configured to causeone or more operations indicated in data portion 510 to be performedwith respect to content data included in data portion 510, e.g., in aprescribed order and/or manner defined in and/or by the script. Forexample, an instance of data package 500 may include a script configuredto invoke first a first operation to create a new repository object Aassociated with a new content data A included in the data package,receive an object identifier generated in connection with creation ofthe new repository object A, and then use the received object identifierto invoke a second operation to relate the repository object A toanother, existing object, and/or to link the new repository object A toa folder or other logical structure, etc.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forresponding to a service request. In the example shown, upon receiving aservice request (602) a determination is made as to whether the requestincludes a script (604). If not, the service request is processednormally, in accordance with the corresponding service definition, inthis example by extracting one or more operations and associated datafrom the received request (606) and performing the one or moreoperations (608), e.g., with respect to the data, as applicable. If therequest includes a script (604), the script is extracted from therequest (610), e.g., from a location such as script portion 508 of datapackage 500 of FIG. 5. The script is provided (612) to a script engine,extension, or other component configured to interpret and execute thescript, and one or more operations are performed under the control ofthe script (614). In some embodiments, the script invokes, sequentiallyif required, one or more atomic operations of the service, in the samemanner as the one or more atomic operations might be invoked by a remoteclient via a corresponding sequence of service requests, each requestinga subset of the one or more atomic operations, e.g., each one requestinga single operation. Once the required operation(s) has/have beenperformed, either directly in response to the request (606, 608) orunder control of the script (610-614), an appropriate service responseis returned (616) to the service consumer from which the request wasreceived.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forpreparing and sending a service request. In various embodiments, theprocess of FIG. 7 is implemented by a client runtime such as clientruntime 402 of FIG. 4 and/or an application or other process runningthereon. A determination is made that one or more operations availablefrom a service are required to be performed (702). For example, anapplication or other process running in a client runtime environmentsuch as client runtime environment 402 of FIG. 4 may determine that oneor more content management operations made available via aservice-oriented architecture are required to be performed, such ascreating a new repository object and relating the object to anotherobject, as described in an example above. Dependencies between and amongthe required operations, pre- and/or post-processing required or desiredto be performed at the server, and/or replacement operations to besubstituted for operations of the service are determined (704). Forexample, the application or other process running at the client may beconfigured to compress (e.g., zip) data prior to sending it via anetwork communication to a service configured to stored content data inan associated repository, and in such an embodiment 704 may includedetermining that the service would have to be told to and/or how tounzip the file. Or, in the “create” and then “relate” example describedabove, 704 may include recognizing that the relate operation cannot beinvoked until the object identifier that will be generated and returnedin the course of performing the create operation. An example of asituation in which it may be desirable to use a script to replace anoperation is a script configured to substitute an “update” operation fora “create” operation if an indication is received that a repositoryobject originally thought to be required to be created has already beencreated, e.g., in response to a prior and/or concurrently sent/receivedrequest generated by another service consumer and/or other requestingprocess.

It is determined whether there is script support at the service (706),such that a script configured to manage dependencies, cause requiredpre- and/or post-processing to be done, and/or replace any serviceoperation(s) required to be replaced can be included in and/orassociated with the service request to cause any such processing to bedone at the server. If so, an appropriate script is prepared (708), adata package that includes the script is assembled (710), and the datapackage is sent to the service (712), e.g., as or in connection with aservice request. In some embodiments, scripting is limited to invokingone or more scripts or portions thereof as exist in a limited libraryinstalled and available at the service provider host and/or a serviceruntime environment provided thereon. If it is determined there is notscripting support at the service, or if there is support for limitedscripting but not a script such as would be required to cause the serverto perform processing determined at 704 to be required, the requiredoperation(s) are requested, if possible, in a manner that enables adesired end result to be achieved without such script support on theservice side (714). For example, a sequence of services requests, eachrequesting a single atomic operation, may be sent, in lieu of package ina data package a series of operations and associated data to beperformed at the server under management and/or control of a script. Inthe “create” and then “relate” example described above for example, afirst service request to cause the create operation to be performed maybe sent b the client and a service response returned that includes anobject identifier assigned to the created object. Subsequently, a secondservice request in which the object identifier included in the responseto the first service request is used to identify the newly create objectas the subject of the desired “relate” operation is prepared and sent,to cause the relate operation to be performed. Or, in some embodimentsif it is determined that scripting is not supported at the service arequest or portion thereof that otherwise would have been compressed(e.g., zipped) prior to sending in some embodiments may be sent insteadin uncompressed form. In the example shown, an exception (e.g., error)is returned if scripting is not supported and the client sideapplication or other process cannot achieve the same desired resultand/or cannot comply with a mandatory policy (e.g., that requests besent in compressed and/or encrypted form) without scripting support atthe service. In some embodiments, at least limited scripting issupported in all cases and 706 and 714 are omitted from the process ofFIG. 7.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forpreparing and sending a service response. In the example shown, a resultrequired to respond to a service request is received (802). Examples ofsuch a result include the output or other result of processing performedlocally by the service and/or a related process; a response receivedfrom a local or remote repository such as repository, such as repository108, in a content management context; and a response received fromanother service invoked to be able to respond to the service requestreceived from the client. Note that the client from which the requestwas received may in some embodiments itself be a service. It isdetermined whether the result or any portion thereof is required to bepost-processed in order to be in a form that is usable by a requestingapplication or process with which the service request is associated(804). For example, if the result were in a compressed (e.g., zipped)form, in some embodiments the determination made at 804 would includedetermining whether the service consumer would know to and/or how todecompress the result. If post-processing is determined to be required(804), it is determined whether there is scripting support at the client(806), e.g., whether an associated client runtime environment includes ascripting extension such as described above. If scripting support isdetermined to be available at the client (806), a script that whenexecuted at the client will perform the required post-processing isprepared and included with the service response (808). Ifpost-processing is determined to be required (804) but scripting supporthas been determined to not be available at the client (806), it isdetermined whether the need for post-processing can be resolved at theserver (810). For example, at 810 in some embodiments and/orcircumstances it may be determined whether required post-processing,such as decompressing and/or decrypting data, can be performed at theserver prior to sending the data to the client in a service response.Considerations may include whether it is possible to do such processingat the server prior to sending the response, and whether applicablepolicies and/or other rules or restrictions allow the response toinclude data sent in the post-processed form. Another example ofresolving at the responding server a need that would otherwise exist forpost-processing to be done at the client is not compressing and/or notencrypting at the server a response data that would otherwise have beencompressed and/or encrypted had the client been configured to supportscripting. If the need for post-processing can be resolved at the server(810), associated processing required to be performed at the server isdone at the server (812). If the need for post-processing cannot beresolved at the server (810), exception handling is invoked (814) afterwhich the process of FIG. 8 ends. Examples of exception handling includesending an error message to the requesting client, prompting humanintervention at the client and/or server side, generating an alert, etc.Once a response has been prepared (804, if no post-processing isrequired; 808 if a client side script to perform post-processing at theclient side is included; 812 if the need for client side post-processingis obviated by the server; and 814 if the case of exception handling),the response is sent to the requesting client (816).

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process for usinga client side script to apply a policy implicated by a service request.A service request is received (902). It is determined whether thereceived request requires a policy to be applied with respect to theclient (904). Examples of such a policy include a security policy, suchas one requiring that the client host be configured to store requestedcontent data in a secure (e.g., encrypted) manner and/or whetherrequired security applications and/or tools are installed at the clienthost; and a communication policy, such as one that allows an email orother transmission or communication to be sent to or from a client hostthat is physically located at a secure site but not to or from, asapplicable, one that is not and/or cannot be verified to be so located,such as a laptop or other portable computer. If a policy is to beapplied (904), a client side script configured to apply the policy,e.g., one configured to determine whether secured storage is availableand/or required software installed in the example above, is sent to theclient (906). If the script sends to the server a result indicating theclient is in compliance with the policy (908) the service requested inthe service request received at 902 is performed. If the client does notpass, exception handling is invoked (912). Examples of exceptionhandling include returning an error, generating an alert, prompting ahuman interaction, etc. Once a response is ready and/or an error orother exception message generated (910, 912), a service response is sentto the client (914). In some embodiments, the client side script,associated communications, and associated processing at the server(e.g., 904, 906, 908) are transparent to the client application,process, and/or module that sent the service request.

Another example of a client side script is one used to redirect arequest, transparently to the requesting client. In some embodiments, afirst service S1 may redirects a requesting client C's request to asecond service S2, transparently to the client C, by returning to theclient C in response to the request a client side script. An interceptoror other entity at the client side configured to recognize that thescript is present causes the script to be run prior to handing theservice response to the requesting client application or other process.The script then sends the same request directly to the second serviceS2, receives a response from S2, and causes the response to be handed tothe requesting client application and/or process in a manner that makesit appear to the requesting client application and/or process that theresponse came directly from the first service S1 in response to theoriginal request.

In some embodiments, a client may be configured to include in a servicerequest or an associated communication a client side script to bereturned to the client in and/or with a service response, to be executedat the client on and/or otherwise with respect to the service response.For example, a client may include and/or send in connection with aservice request a client side script that will enable the client todecompress, decrypt, and/or otherwise properly post-process the serviceresponse when received.

In some embodiments, a chain, tree, or other combination or sequence ofservices may be invoked and a client and/or intermediate node in thechain may include in a service request and/or response a scriptconfigured to enable a downstream node to perform process it may nototherwise be able to perform, such as to decompress and/or decrypt data.

In various embodiments, a client and/or server side script may be usedto prompt a human interaction, e.g., via a user interface, and/or toprocess an input received via such a human interaction. In this way, themachine-to-machine paradigm of a web services or similar interaction canbe departed from selectively and as required to enhance the servicesmade available via such services.

Although the foregoing embodiments have been described in some detailfor purposes of clarity of understanding, the invention is not limitedto the details provided. There are many alternative ways of implementingthe invention. The disclosed embodiments are illustrative and notrestrictive.

1. A method of processing data, comprising: receiving at a server acommunication; determining whether the communication includes a scriptwritten in non-proprietary, general-purpose scripting language, whereinthe script includes instructions for a sequence of a plurality of atomicoperations to be at least in part interpreted by the server and thescript is associated with a content management service at least in partprovided by the server to manage a content repository connected to theserver; in the event it is determined that the communication includesthe script, interpreting and executing the script at run time; and inthe event it is determined that the communication does not include thescript, performing an operation included in the communication to managethe content repository; wherein the communication comprises or isotherwise associated with a services request and the script isconfigured to cause the server to pre-process at least a portion of theservices request; wherein the pre-processing comprises decompressing atleast a portion of the services request; and decrypting at least aportion of a response data associated with the services request.
 2. Themethod as recited in claim 1, wherein the communication comprises aservices request.
 3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein thecommunication is sent to the service running on the server.
 4. Themethod as recited in claim 3, wherein the service is running in aservice runtime environment.
 5. The method as recited in claim 4,wherein the service runtime environment comprises a virtual machine. 6.The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the script is limited toexecuting one or more scripts included in a predefined library ofscripts.
 7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the script islimited to invoking a predefined functionality of a server sidecomponent or module.
 8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein thecommunication comprises or is otherwise associated with a servicesrequest and the script is configured to cause the server to do one ormore of the following: pre-process at least a portion of the servicesrequest; post-process a response data associated with the servicesrequest; and replace an operation comprising the service at least inpart with a replacement operation defined or identified at least in partin the script.
 9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein thecommunication comprises or is otherwise associated with a servicesrequest and the script is configured to cause the server topost-process, prior to sending to a requesting client that sent thecommunication, a response data associated with the services request. 10.The method as recited in claim 9, wherein the post-processing comprisesone or more of the following: compressing the response data,decompressing the response data, zipping the response data, unzippingthe response data, encrypting the response data, and decrypting theresponse data.
 11. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the scriptis configured to cause the server to perform a sequence of operations.12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the script is configuredto cause the server to perform a sequence of operations in a manner thatenables a later operation in the sequence that depends on an earlieroperation in the sequence to be performed without error.
 13. A computersystem, comprising: a communication interface; and a processor coupledto the communication interface and configured to: receive acommunication for a server via the communication interface; determinewhether the communication includes a script written in non-proprietary,general-purpose scripting language, wherein the script includesinstructions for a sequence of a plurality of atomic operations to be atleast in part interpreted by the server and the script is associatedwith a content management service at least in part provided by theserver to manage a content repository connected to the server; in theevent it is determined that the communication includes the script,interpret and execute the script at run time; and in the event it isdetermined that the communication does not include the script, performan operation included in the communication to manage the contentrepository; wherein the communication comprises or is otherwiseassociated with a services request and the script is configured to causethe server to pre-process at least a portion of the services request;wherein the pre-processing comprises decompressing at least a portion ofthe services request; and decrypting at least a portion of a responsedata associated with the services request.
 14. The computer system asrecited in claim 13, wherein the communication comprises a servicerequest.
 15. The computer system as recited in claim 14, wherein theprocessor is further configured to provide a services runtime and theservice request is associated with the service made available via theservices runtime.
 16. The computer system as recited in claim 15,wherein the processor is configured to execute the script at least inpart by providing in the services runtime a scripting extensionconfigured to interpret and execute the script.
 17. The computer systemas recited in claim 16, wherein the script is configured to cause theprocessor to do one or more of the following: pre-process at least aportion of the services request; post-process a response data associatedwith the services request; and replace an operation comprising theservice at least in part with a replacement operation defined oridentified at least in part in the script.
 18. A computer programproduct embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium andcomprising computer instructions for: receiving at a server acommunication; determining whether the communication includes a scriptwritten in non-proprietary, general-purpose scripting language, whereinthe script includes instructions for a sequence of a plurality of atomicoperations to be at least in part interpreted by the server and thescript is associated with a content management service at least in partprovided by the server to manage a content repository connected to theserver; in the event it is determined that the communication includesthe script, interpreting and executing the script at run time; and inthe event it is determined that the communication does not include thescript, performing an operation included in the communication to managethe content repository; wherein the communication comprises or isotherwise associated with a services request and the script isconfigured to cause the server to pre-process at least a portion of theservices request; wherein the pre-processing comprises decompressing atleast a portion of the services request; and decrypting at least aportion of a response data associated with the services request.
 19. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: verifying the script is permittedand does not pose a security threat prior to interpreting and executingthe script.
 20. The method of claim 1, wherein the script is configuredto provide the service to a client when interpreted and executed in aruntime environment.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the script isconfigured to be interpreted and executed by a script extension of theruntime environment.
 22. The system of claim 13, wherein the processoris further configured to: verify the script is permitted and does notpose a security threat prior to interpreting and executing the script.23. The system of claim 13, wherein the script is configured to providea service to a client when interpreted and executed in a runtimeenvironment.
 24. The system of claim 23, wherein the script isconfigured to be interpreted and executed by a script extension of theruntime environment.
 25. The computer program product of claim 18,further comprising computer instructions for: verifying the script ispermitted and does not pose a security threat prior to interpreting andexecuting the script.
 26. The computer program product of claim 18,wherein the script is configured to provide a service to a client wheninterpreted and executed in a runtime environment.
 27. The computerprogram product of claim 26, wherein the script is configured to beinterpreted and executed by a script extension of the runtimeenvironment.